Star Trek Hunter Ep 8: The Bolian Web
by RobertBruceScott
Summary: A new attempt at genocide against a Federation population - this time in the form of a weaponized super virus... And the U.S.S. Hunter has to track down the most unlikely of mass killers.
1. Ep 8x1: Paleonus V

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 1: Paleonus V

8.1  
Paleonus V

Paleonus V, seen from orbit, was an exceptionally beautiful planet. Vast oceans of blue and green waters complemented continents with many varieties of forestation, lakes, enormous rivers - some of which ran red or brown - savannas and deserts - vast swathes of brilliant color. A planet reserved for primeval wilderness supporting vast herds of gigantic herbivores that could be seen from orbit. A total of 14 research stations were located in various environments around the planet. Research stations mostly inhabited by bolians. Or they had been…

At this moment, those research stations contained only bodies. Dead blue ones. The medical ship U.S.S. Atul Goel, had evacuated the few surviving humans, vulcans and andorians - fewer than 15 people in all.

The Atul Goel was completing its mission and preparing to break orbit as the Hunter arrived. This was a surprise to Commander David Pepper as the Hunter had been summoned urgently to Paleonus V and had arrived only 7 hours after the emergency call came through.

.

Pep always felt a little uncomfortable in the captain's chair - which was not unreasonable, considering that it was too small for him and he was always a little concerned he might break it. With a slight hand signal, he instructed Lt. Commander Mlady, currently standing watch at the bridge tactical station behind the captain's chair, to hail the medical ship.

"Atul Goel, this is the U.S.S. Hunter, David Pepper commanding. We were notified of a medical emergency at Paleonus V and arrived as quickly as we could."

Pep was simply astonished at the face that appeared on the viewer.

"Hunter, this is the U.S.S. Atul Goel, Fleet Admiral Scumuk commanding. I regret to inform you that you have arrived too late." The elderly vulcan was wearing a blue uniform. He was the highest ranking doctor in Star Fleet and Star Fleet's fourth highest ranking officer - the director of Star Fleet Medical. "From our research, the pathogen the bolians picked up here on Paleonus V is 100% fatal to bolians, but did not have any effect on vulcans. The humans here experienced symptoms similar to those of a head cold and recovered without treatment. The andorians had a much more severe reaction, but were all successfully treated. I have quarantined the survivors. I am placing Paleonus V under quarantine. No landings are to be conducted and no material of any kind is to be beamed up."

"Understood, Admiral," Pep responded.

"We must break orbit," said Scumuk. "I was on my way to a conference and happened to be in the area. I assume with a planetary quarantine in place that you will be breaking orbit to return to your patrol, Commander."

"That is not up to me, Admiral," Pep replied. "I will inform Justice Irons."

"Ah, so this is Minerva Irons' command," the admiral responded. "Unfortunately, we must depart immediately. Please give the justice my regards. Scumuk out." The transmission ended with an odd sense of abruptness. Pep watched as the Atul Goel launched six quarantine buoys, which began flashing red and broadcasting the medical quarantine warning on all frequencies as they took up positions in high orbit of Paleonus V. The Atul Goel broke orbit immediately on launching the buoys.

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Flight Specialist Winnifred Salazaar, currently at the pilot's station on the bridge of the Hunter, turned to look at his first officer. "Sir, the Admiral was lying."

"What are you telling me, Winnie? What was he lying about?" Pep was aware that Salazaar was half betazoid and seemed to have inherited a strong telepathic ability. He was also aware that vulcans very rarely lied and, whether they were lying or not, they tended to be extremely difficult for even the most talented telepaths to read due to their mental discipline and their own native telepathic abilities.

"From what I could tell, everything." Salazaar rejoined. "And he wanted me to know he was lying. It was like he was screaming it at me."

The Hunter's interactive avatar, in the form of an older man with a pot belly, a gray beard and a white lab coat, appeared unbidden in the space behind the navigator's station. "Pep, based on Mr. Salazaar's statements, I reviewed the transmission from the Atul Goel. There are several unusual things about it."

"Are you telling me you think Fleet Admiral Scumuk was lying?" Pep asked with some surprise.

"Yes, but it's more than that," Hunter replied. "That transmission included biometric readings from the entire crew and also from the evacuees. That crew is under tremendous stress and currently there are 8 crew members in quarantine, including Captain John Kelley, and Assistant Medical Director Mettus Klox. The Atul Goel had 17 bolian crew members, including the first officer and medical director. All of them are dead. Furthermore, my long range sensors just picked up a course change."

"Where is that ship going, Hunter?" Pep asked, with a significant sense of foreboding.

.

"The Bolarus system."

.

Pep surged out of the captain's chair with some difficulty. "Kenny Dolphin, wake up and get your butt to the tactical unit!" Pep glanced over his shoulder at Mlady.

Mlady, in turn issued several orders. "Lieutenant Gamor, Ensign Phillips, Navigator Strahl to the bridge!"

The enormous first officer was already headed toward the captain's office. "Winnie - you're with me. Hunter - we need you too. Sarekson Carrera - join us in the captain's office."

At the moment Pep got to the door, it opened and Justice Irons' voice could be heard within, "Enter..."

Within a minute, Lt. Gamor arrived. Mlady released the tactical station to her and headed toward the hatch leading up to the tactical unit.

Lt. Dolphin arrived a second later. He was in uniform, but his blonde hair was still wild from sleep and he needed a shave. Gamor touched him on the shoulder and whispered, "Comb your hair, sir." Dolphin ran his fingers through his hair as he hurried toward the open hatch. There was no discernible improvement - his hair still looked like it was terrified of everything to his right and was stumbling all over itself in an attempt to go as far to his left as possible.

Navigator Eli Strahl was next to the bridge. Strahl's long, wavy brown hair and short, neatly trimmed beard mostly covered the very faint spots he had inherited from a trill grandparent. He was primarily betazoid and strongly telepathic. He restrained his hair into a pony tail as he took his place at the navigator's station, then began quickly entering calculations into the console. Ensign Ethan Phillips and Dr. Sarekson Carrera came in last. Gamor surrendered the tactical station to Phillips and took the empty pilot's chair.

Dr. Carrera headed directly to the captain's office. The door opened before he got to it and Justice Irons' voice could be heard beyond, "Come in, Sarekson."

Moments later, Ensign Sun Ho Hui arrived at the bridge. At that same moment, the door to the captain's office opened, disgorging Dr. Carrera, Winnifred Salazaar, Pep and finally Justice Minerva Irons. The cramped bridge was now crowded.

.

Irons had donned the robe of her office as appellate justice. She addressed the Hunter's crew.

"Shipwide: This is At-Large Appellate Justice Minerva Irons. I have issued an emergency judgement against Fleet Admiral Scumuk and have lodged this judgement and the accompanying injunction with Star Fleet. Whether Star Fleet agrees with me or not is irrelevant. You are a JAG crew and you will follow the orders of the Tribunal above any Star Fleet orders. I have never instructed you to violate the orders of an admiral before and I am not instructing you to do so now. I am issuing an emergency injunction against Fleet Admiral Scumuk's orders under Section 3 of the Federation Charter and in agreement with Section 9 of the Tribunal Charter and Section 4 of the Star Fleet Charter. Admiral Scumuk is not in control of his faculties or is under the control of another entity and is currently enjoined against issuing any orders under the color of his rank and office. Any orders you may have received from him in the past 48 hours are null and void."

Everyone on the bridge was focused on the justice. She spared a moment to look around the bridge. Her crew were stunned, but had clearly digested and accepted her ruling. She turned to her first officer. "David, stop that ship before they commit another genocide. I will be in ground operations, then medical." Irons turned and exited the bridge, followed by Dr. Carrera.

.

8.1


	2. Ep 8: The Bolian Web

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web

.

.

Episode 8 - The Bolian Web

_"From the beginnings of our great common enterprise, Star Fleet captains have wrestled with the Prime Directive; Federation doctors have struggled with prohibitions around genetic engineering. It is so hard to know that you have the power to help and be prevented from doing so by regulation. But these prohibitions are a necessary precaution to enforce the first commandment of Federation Ethics: THOU SHALT NOT PLAY GOD!" _

_Dr. Kenny Dolphin, __Fundamentals of Federation Ethics__._

.

.

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Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)

At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons  
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper  
Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady

.

Medical Director - Lt. Commander Tali Shae  
. Asst. Medical Director - 2nd Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder  
.. Ensign Chrissiana Trei  
... Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif  
... Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
... Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim

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Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Kenneth Dolphin  
. Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor  
... Navigator Johanna Imex  
... Navigator Eli Strahl  
.. Ensign Ethan Phillips  
... Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth  
... Flight Specialist Dih Terri  
... Flight Specialist Joey Chin  
... Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar

.

Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk  
. Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T'Lon  
... Investigator Lynhart Shran  
... Investigator Buttans Ngumbo  
.. Ensign Tolon Reeves  
... Tactical Specialist Jarrong  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Rys  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Garr  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys

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Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera  
. Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek  
... Midshipman Tammy Brazil  
... Transporter Engineer K'rok  
.. Ensign Sun Ho Hui  
... Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas  
... Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs  
... Flight Engineer Tomos  
... Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon


	3. Ep 8x2: Dr Napoleon Boles

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 2: Dr. Napoleon Boles

8.2  
Dr. Napoleon Boles

The smilmonouth was not a particularly sneaky predator. It is difficult to sneak up on prey when you are 15 meters long and the ground shakes with every step. Nevertheless, the large, smelly predator was doing its best to creep up on its small, blue prey. The smilmonouth could move easily on all six legs, but the front two feet were differentiated from the others, allowing the enormous beast to raise the front half of its body into a vertical position, grasp its prey, rend it and bring the pieces to its slavering mouth and enormous fangs.

Nearly every large animal on Paleonus V was hexapodous and almost all except for the largest herbivores could stand up on their hind legs, but the smilmonouth was the only one with significantly differentiated forefeet. There was little chance this would lead to tool development as the beast's teeth and size made it easily the apex predator on the planet, and it tended to be a solitary predator.

As such, it was entirely unprepared for the astounding amount of blinding pain that suddenly overwhelmed it. Each time it backed away from its blue, bipedal prey, the pain stopped. Each time it advanced, there was a flash of light and more blinding pain. The smilmonouth was nowhere near sentient, but it was easily smart enough to figure out that this prey was better left alone. The enormous carnivore slinked away in search of less electrifying prey.

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Dr. Napoleon Boles put his phaser away and brought out his tricorder again. He was not afraid of the smilmonouth (thanks to the standard issue Star Fleet phaser rifle he kept handy against the local wildlife.) He had actually gotten much closer to the apex predator during its sleep and had the readings and close-up video to prove it. There were smaller, stealthier and much faster predators he was far more concerned about.

He was still clad in his blue Star Fleet uniform, but only because it was by far the most durable and comfortable garment he had ever worn. Dr. Boles' skin was a deeper blue than his uniform and his hairless head had stripes of such dark blue they were almost black. His skin was shiny and almost iridescent, giving the top of his head the appearance of a fine agate marble. Boles was tough, conditioned to stand up to this kind of work. Only this wasn't work. This was vacation.

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But all good things must end and after 30 days living in seclusion among the wildlife of Paleonus V, Dr. Boles was nearing the research station on the southeastern continent. His tricorder was full, his phaser batteries were almost depleted, his ration bag was empty, the small amount of water left in his canteen was suspiciously brackish, his uniform seriously needed to be recycled and his stomach was starting to make rather alarmingly rebellious noises.

Research Station P5'11 was concealed in a rocky dell where the large animals could not get to it. And on the door of P5'11 was a red band, sealing the door. For the first time in 30 days, Dr. Boles turned his communicator on and immediately received the quarantine message. He cleared this message and sent an emergency broadcast, hoping against hope that someone might be listening.

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Ensign Ethan Phillips was still at the tactical station when the message came through.

"Commander, we have a transmission coming from the planet, audio only…"

"Put it through, Ethan," Pep responded.

"…quarantine is about? Message repeats - This is Star Fleet Lieutenant, Dr. Napoleon Boles to any research station or any vessel that can read this signal. I am requesting emergency beamout. And can someone please explain to me what this quarantine is about?"

"You can reset your communicator, Dr. Boles. This is the U.S.S. Hunter in orbit of Paleonus V, David Pepper commanding. We are reading your location just outside Paleonus V research station #11. Do not enter the research station. I repeat, do not enter the research station. Dr. Boles, we are reading your physiology as bolian. Can you confirm? You have an odd name for a bolian."

"It is good to hear your voice, sir. I am half bolian, half human. I have no intention of entering the research station, but I am not safe in this location. My supplies are depleted and I just used most of the remaining charge in my phaser fending off a large predator. There are other predators that can get to me down here. Can you beam me out?"

"Not at this moment, Dr. Boles, but we will send you a hardened shelter, a fully charged phaser and food supplies. You should receive these within the next 15 minutes. We are reading that your communicator is fully charged - can you confirm?"

"Confirmed. I had my communicator turned off while I was taking shore leave," Boles responded.

"Keep this channel open, Dr. Boles," said Pep.

"Can you tell me where the Atul Goel is?" Boles asked.

"The Atul Goel broke orbit about 45 minutes ago, why?" asked Pep.

"Why did they leave without me?"

"I cannot answer that question, Dr. Boles. Were they supposed to pick you up?"

"I am their life sciences officer. I took 30 days leave, which will be up in about 2 hours."

.

Pep swiveled the captain's chair to look at Ensign Ethan Phillips. He pointed sharply at the door at the back of the bridge. Phillips looked questioningly at his first officer. Pep rolled his eyes, then placed his hands near the top of his head, his index fingers extending just above his antenna mounts. He wiggled his fingers and moved his head from side to side in a caricaturization of Investigator Shran's head and antenna movements. He then used a finger to point to the door, then made a summoning motion. Phillips nodded and exited the bridge.

.

"We were unaware," Pep continued, at the same time as he was giving Ensign Phillips an order by pantomime. "It's been a busy time up here and you might have gotten lost in the shuffle. Conference mode Dr. Boles, cargo bay 2."

"This is cargo bay 2, Ensign Sun Ho Hui here."

"Hui, are you ready to transport the shelter and other supplies down to Dr. Boles?"

"Affirmative, Commander," came Sun's voice. "Dr. Boles, we now have a visual on your location. I will send you a phaser rifle first. You will need to take it, then step out of the protected area so we can beam the shelter in. I have tied the replicator into the transporter, so we will be actually replicating the shelter on location using local materials. Once the shelter is in place, I will transport the supplies and the shelter door directly into the shelter. At that point you can enter the shelter and secure the door."

"Napoleon, this is Commander Pepper signing out. Please keep this channel open. I'm going to leave you in contact with Ensign Sun. Hui, once you have secured Dr. Boles in the shelter, please transfer him to Medical and let the Doc update him about the quarantine."

"Aye sir,"

.

Ensign Phillips had returned to the bridge and ended the transmission. Investigator Lynhart Shran had followed Phillips onto the bridge.

Pep motioned for Shran to join him, "Come on down here, Lenny. Hunter..."

The ship's holographic avatar appeared in his preferred location behind the navigator's station.

"Hunter, I recall you said the transmission from the Atul Goel informed you that there were 17 bolian crew members, all dead. Was there any mention of a half-bolian, half-human crew member?"

"There was no mention at all of Lieutenant Boles," the avatar replied. "The record indicated there was an open position for a large animal life scientist."

"Lenny, check this out. Find out where our Dr. Boles came from, when he got here - I want to know everything about him. Let Lieutenant Tauk know that I asked and I want those answers fast."

"Sure thing, boss. Tauk and T'Lon are meeting with the judge at the moment," Shran replied.

Pep responded. "I know. That's why I summoned you. Interrupt them. This is important. They need to know that we have a mystery on our hands here."

"You mean another one, boss. They seem to be multiplying," Shran observed.

Pep nodded and raised his eyebrows, "Get to the bottom of them, Lenny. Go get me some answers."

Shran nodded, then turned and left the bridge.

.

8.2


	4. Ep 8x3: Bulldog Xhot

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 3: Bulldog Xhot

8.3  
Bulldog Xhot

Being in the brig was almost a blessing to Captain John Kelley. He barely knew what was going on, but at least he was in control of his own mind.

The U.S.S. Atul Goel was a medical ship and as such did not have an actual brig. What it did have was 8 separate quarantine facilities, each of which looked onto the main surgery. As a result, Captain Kelley and several of his staff had a front row seat for the suffering and deaths of their bolian crewmates. All 17 of them.

What few glimpses Captain Kelley got of the rest of his crew made it evident that they were operating under extreme duress. They were clearly aware of what they were doing, evidently horrified by their actions, but unable to control their own behavior.

The expressions on the faces of his crew were heart breaking. These people had somehow been coerced not only to kill their friends and crewmates, but to watch them die agonizing, lingering deaths. From disease. Inside Star Fleet's most advanced mobile medical facility.

.

"What makes matters even worse is that it is Fleet Admiral Scumuk who is doing all of this," Kelley said to his cellmate, first officer and best friend, Commander Ardoggbul Xhot. "I even know a few vulcans who get teary eyed at the mention of his name. He's the most decorated officer in Star Fleet history - a hero to all of us."

Commander Xhot nodded. He was a great listener and also an expert wrestler. He was of average size and build for a bolian - a people not remarkable for physical strength. But Ardoggbul Xhot was the type who never gave up. He had managed to live through hardships that killed everyone else around him. And given his prowess at wrestling, he had earned the nickname that had started as a simple pun on his first name - Bulldog. He looked the part too… Bolian features added a bit to this as well - like most of his people, in addition to the powder-blue skin and the bifurcating ridge down the middle of his face, Bulldog's eyes were a little bulbous and bulgy and his mouth a little on the jowly side.

Few humans found bolians to be even mildly handsome, but Captain Kelley had long become accustomed to that face - it was the face of a tremendously courageous officer. And Kelley's best counselor.

"I can't let things end this way, Bulldog," Kelley said to his friend. "I don't know how, but I can't let that old vulcan's career end this way. Scumuk's my hero too. He has literally saved entire civilizations from the brink of extinction. No one knows more about weaponized diseases than the admiral."

Bulldog didn't say anything. He nodded his head sagely, then cast a glance at the door to the quarantine unit that had the captain trapped.

"You know, I think I told you that my grandfather was a Star Fleet captain, as was his father, his great-grandfather and great-great grandfather. And amazingly, Grandpa's still alive. Captain Phillip Archer. When I got promoted, he told me one of his secrets."

Bulldog raised an eyebrow (more of a ridge as bolians were completely hairless).

"No, this is a good one. I never told you this one - it gets passed only to Star Fleet captains - from one to another. He told me to have a backup plan in case my crew suddenly turn into zombies and remove my command access codes. And have another backup plan in case that one doesn't work. I actually have three. I never thought my crew would actually turn into zombies. But here we are…"

Bulldog just looked at his friend. Questioning.

"Yeah, well, all of those plans are contingent on me not being quarantined in my own sick bay," Kelley said, somewhat chagrined. "I suppose that might have been a bit of an oversight…"

Actually, Kelley only thought these things. If he had given them voice, Scumuk might have overheard. The other reason he did not voice his conversation was that Commander Ardoggbul Xhot, the Bulldog, was, like all of his bolian crewmates, no longer alive. Kelley had watched his best friend die only a few feet away from him. On a table in his own sick bay.

.  
A***A  
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Knocking a starship out of high warp without destroying it was a tricky prospect. Doing so to a Star Fleet Medical ship was far more problematic. SFM boats had only nominal phasers - incapable of damaging another ship - just a navigational tool. But what SFM boats lacked in weapons, they made up for in speed and exceptionally stable warp fields.

This was why Ensign Sun had been called to the bridge - to develop a method for safely knocking the Atul Goel out of warp and disabling it beyond repair without endangering the lives of its crew or the survivors of Paleonus V onboard. But the tactical unit only accommodated a crew of three and for this mission, there was not room for an engineer.

Navigator Eli Strahl stayed focused on his job. Like many of the Hunter's crew, he was terrified of Mlady - in his case because it was nearly impossible for him to ignore the volatile cauldron of utterly alien, primal thoughts sitting inches behind him. She was always terribly hungry, even after she had fed. How she kept that terrible hunger under control was beyond Strahl.

Kenny Dolphin, seated to Strahl's left, was somewhat more peaceful, but was deliberately hiding things and had his defenses up. For a human, he had become very sensitive to telepathic contact. Strahl kept his focus far outward, using his mind as well as the tactical unit's navigational instruments to seek out the Atul Goel.

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8.3


	5. Ep 8x4: Planetary Epidemiologist

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 4: Paleonus V Planetary Epidemiologist

8.4  
Paleonus V Planetary Epidemiologist

In addition to a fully charged phaser rifle, food, water, a fresh uniform, and basic living accommodations inside the shelter, Dr. Napoleon Boles had also been provided a decontamination chamber (in which he was finally able to take a desperately needed shower) and a workstation. He would have preferred to have been transported off Paleonus V, but although Admiral Scumuk's quarantine order had been rescinded, Dr. Tali Shae had reissued the planetary quarantine under her own authority. It was a reasonable precaution.

At this moment, Dr. Boles was looking into the workstation viewer that had been sent down to his shelter and observing the faces of the leadership of the U.S.S. Hunter for the first time. They were seated around a long, curving conference table that matched the curvature of the room. Boles had heard of Captain Irons, but was astonished she was not only still alive, but commanding a JAG vessel. Given her history, he would have expected her to look much older than she appeared on his viewscreen.

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"So you presented us with a little mystery, Dr. Boles," said Commander David Pepper. "When we had contact with the Atul Goel, someone sent us the crew roster and there was no mention of you."

"That's nuts!" Boles exclaimed, eliciting surprised looks from some of the Hunter's leadership. Bolians were famous for being extraordinarily polite in the most difficult of circumstances. "I started as a midshipman on the Atul Goel three years ago. It's the only Star Fleet vessel I've ever served on."

Dr. Tali Shae responded, "Yes. We pulled your Star Fleet jacket and that's what it says as well. It also says that you have been authorized by the Tribunal to practice Federation law."

"All bolians are encouraged to practice law. Ability to practice Bolian law is a prerequisite for full citizenship with voting rights. Any official positions with the Bolian government require us to be authorized to practice Federation law as well. I have some ambitions in that direction after my service with Star Fleet is up."

Justice Irons spoke up. "Unfortunately, I must temporarily assign you as Star Fleet's researcher on Paleonus V until we can clear the quarantine. I am temporarily assigning you to Lieutenant Commander Tali Shae's department as planetary epidemiologist. I know that may be outside your training, but you are stuck there on the ground, no one else is coming, and you cannot leave, until we clear the planet. We have transferred the entire transmission from Admiral Scumuk on the Atul Goel to your work station. Unfortunately, that is all we have on this disease, so you don't have much to work with."

"I would appreciate the promotion if the circumstances were not so dire. As it is, I quite literally have nothing better to do," Boles responded. "I have studied disease at some detail as it impacts my field of specialty. I am not an expert in epidemiology, but I have sufficient knowledge to start with. And you have provided me sufficient tools to begin this investigation. Do you have any idea why I was erased from the Atul Goel's records?"

Pep responded. "We're just guessing up here, Napoleon, but I think you might have had a friend who saw what was happening and took you out of the system to protect you. Someone wants to leave a trail of bolian bodies. Whoever took you out of your ship's computer, whatever their motive, probably saved your life."

"We're going to end this transmission for now, Lieutenant," Irons said. "In one hour, Dr. Tali Shae will contact you and get you working with her staff to help solve the riddle on your end."

"I appreciate everything you and your crew are doing for me. I will be here when Dr. Shae is ready for me," Boles said.

"Thank you, Dr. Boles," Irons replied. "Hunter out."

In the executive conference room, once the transmission from Dr. Boles was ended, Pep asked, "So, who here is convinced that our new blue friend didn't remove himself from the Atul Goel's roster?"

Pep looked around the room. Silence.

"That's what I thought…"

Lt. Tauk coughed for a moment, then said, "It leaves a lot of unanswered questions."

Irons looked at Tauk. "Get Lieutenant T'Lon and her investigators on those questions. We have far too many mysteries at the moment. And send me the current crew roster for that ship. I want to know who is onboard and who is in quarantine."

Dr. Tali Shae was also looking at the director of ground operations. "Tauk, I would like to borrow Ensign Tolon and his team. I know those kids are fighters, not scientists, but they have been useful in processing information in the past. With Reeves' leadership, they might be able to lend a hand in searching through our readings of the planet to see if we can get a glimpse of our superbug. Especially if we can get Dr. Boles to take some readings."

Tauk started to answer, made a slight noise, then nodded his head. He took a drink and cleared his throat. "I'll tell him."

Justice Irons clicked her fingernail against the table, garnering the attention of all in the room. "In light of all that has happened here, I have reached out for some assistance – a war ship to watch our flank. David, until that help arrives, I want to maintain yellow alert status. Whoever is behind all of this might just show up or send someone to investigate and we are vulnerable with the tactical unit away in pursuit of the Atul Goel. Also, please notify me when our relief arrives – I will want to greet them."

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8.4


	6. Ep 8x5: Hunting the USS Atul Goel

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 5: Hunting the U.S.S. Atul Goel

8.5  
Hunting the U.S.S. Atul Goel

To pull off the plan developed by Sun and Carrera to disable the Atul Goel, the tactical unit needed a navigator who was abnormally adept at tracking (the telepathically endowed Eli Strahl = check), a pilot of unrivaled skill (daredevil Kenny Dolphin = check) and a tactical officer with a predatory instinct (ultimate apex predator Mlady = check). It was a complicated plan and only possible because Dr. Carrera had been able to pull down fully detailed specifications for the medical ship.

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"Found them," said Navigator Strahl, breaking nearly an hour of silence. "We're in luck. They're trying to be clever. They changed course and made a wide swing away from the Bolarus system to try to throw off any pursuit. I am projecting a curving trajectory back toward the Bolarus system. This delay lets us catch them much further out than if they had made a straight run for it." Strahl was seated at the navigator's station, with Dolphin at the pilot's console inches to his left and Lt. Commander Mlady in the command chair centered inches behind them.

"Can we cross the T, Eli?" Dolphin asked.

"Better than planned," Strahl responded. "We can swing wide in front, then come around tight behind. We do this right, we're going to bring them to a full stop in dark space well off the beaten path. Nowhere near the trade routes."

"Give us the course and program in the torpedo drops," said Dolphin. "We blow them when we drop them, and close the box with the last one when we get in behind."

"I want visual on the Atul Goel the entire time," Mlady stated. "I will choose when to blow the torpedoes. I would rather have a few seconds for us to avoid any potential warpfield cavitation. That could throw our timing off on the back side of the run."

"I can adjust for that on the fly," Dolphin responded. "You and I would have to be in telepathic contact for you to be able to time anything longer than a drop and boom."

.

"Let me put my claw in your neck."

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"What?" Dolphin turned to look at Mlady. He had never heard her tell a joke and was fairly certain from her expression that she wasn't joking now.

"It will be quite painful," Mlady continued. "But it will give me a direct line into your brainstem. I will know what you are going to do before you do."

"Won't that, like, leave a hole in the back of my neck and bleed a lot?" Dolphin asked.

"I could use the blood. And we are carrying a tactical medical hologram who can patch up the hole once I'm done with your brainstem."

"Are you really that hungry?" Dolphin asked.

"She's always starving," said Strahl. He turned to look at Mlady. "I'm sorry, sir, but with you sitting right behind me, it's like trying to block out a supernova."

"I'm not going to eat you, Mr. Strahl," said Mlady. "And I'm not going to hurt you." She met his gaze until he turned around. Then she leaned forward, her face next to his ear, and said, very, very quietly, "today…"

.

8.5


	7. Ep 8x6: Stripping the Ship

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 6: Stripping the Ship

8.6  
Stripping the Ship

Crewman Tina Mata was the youngest member of the Atul Goel's crew. Fresh out of basic training, she had demonstrated a talent for medical technology and had been assigned with four other recruits to the medical bay. She had liked the medical director, Dr. Orazena Varr, more than most. And that was saying something - everyone liked Dr. Varr. Bolians were famous for their courtesy, and were generally easy to like, but Dr. Varr was much more than that. She had cared deeply about each of her charges.

And she had cared about Tina - enough to mark the crewman's Star Fleet jacket restricted and to change her profile on the roster. As far as anyone knew, Crewman Mata was entirely human. Her prescription for vanagralaxaline - the drug that inhibited her pheromone production - remained a secret between her and the ship's chief medical officer. Mata's hair was black, her eyes were green, her skin was dark - but there wasn't a hint of green to the crewman's skin, so no one could tell by looking at her that she had an orion great grandmother.

Orion women were often referred to as "slave-girls" because their pheromones tended to overwhelm the males of most humanoid species (and more than a few females) with lust, affording them tremendous suggestive control over those affected. And orion women were exceptionally resistant to telepathic control.

To maintain his control over the remaining crew, Fleet Admiral Scumuk had to condition them with mind-melds on a regular basis. Each time the admiral had conditioned Tina, although he did not know it, his control over her was less effective, until it was only a thin veil. One which she could break - but not until there was an opportunity to do something that had a chance at turning the tables.

She was in the medical bay when that opportunity arrived…

.  
A***A  
.

The Hunter's tactical unit dropped five photon torpedoes in space several light years in front of the Atul Goel's path, then circled around in a tight arc at high warp to come up behind the speeding medical ship. The five torpedoes spread wide to create a large box around the point in space that would soon be occupied by the Atul Goel, then exploded moments before the medical ship arrived so that at the moment the ship passed through this minefield, each explosion would be at its apex. At that same moment the tactical unit, now coming up behind its target, detonated a torpedo just off the aft expression of the Atul Goel's warp bubble, closing the box - each torpedo exploding just over 2 kilometers away from the Atul Goel. The cumulative effect was to collapse the warp field, bringing the Atul Goel into relative space and at the same time disabling its warp nacelles.

The tactical unit raced back and forth, passing close to the Atul Goel, transporting first the control unit for the medical ship's shields, its tractor beam system, the firing system for its impulse engines, its transporter units and the impeller units on the front of the ship's two nacelles off of the Atul Goel and into nearby space. On a final pass, the tactical unit beamed out the control panels for all 8 of the Atul Goel's shuttlecraft, rendering these shuttles inoperable. A field of critical ship's control systems now floated freely in space about 2 kilometers off the Atul Goel's stern.

The Atul Goel was rendered dead in space, its drive plasma released from its now useless warp nacelles. Stripped of both its warp drive and impulse engines, its transporter units, tractor beam, shields and shuttlecraft, the medical ship was not going anywhere and its crew were trapped onboard.

.

8.6


	8. Ep 8x7: Retaking the Ship

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 7: Retaking the Ship

8.7  
Retaking the Ship

All of the Atul Goel's power systems blacked out and the ship went to emergency lighting the moment it was knocked out of warp. The sudden drop to relative space overwhelmed the inertial dampeners, throwing crew about in every compartment of the ship. Crewman Tina Mata was thrown hard against the door to quarantine unit 4. She snapped to life suddenly, reached for the door controls and unlocked the unit, releasing Captain Kelley.

The lights came back on almost immediately and the klaxon sounded, announcing the ship was at red alert.

Kelley squeezed the young crewman's shoulder, looked into her eyes and said, "Welcome back, Crewman Mata."

Mata watched in confusion as her captain then strode up to the nearest replicator unit and began rapidly slamming his left fist into the protective cover at the top of the unit, deliberately barking his knuckles against the edge of the unit until they began bleeding profusely. He rubbed his bleeding fist against his right hand, covering the palm and fingers with blood, then slapped his bloody palm down on the replicating platform and said, "Watermelon!"

Mata was terribly confused, wondering why her captain was so madly desperate for watermelon. But the replicator did not produce any. Instead, the unit went dark - all control panels went dark - the entire ship went dark and all of the doors and bulkheads slammed shut. The red alert klaxon shut off and was replaced by a single announcement in the ship's computer voice: "Shipwide quarantine is now in effect. Remain in your current location." The interior lighting went from normal lighting to black light, causing anything white to glow as if with internal light. The words "Shipwide Quarantine" in iridescent letters glowed on both sides of every door and every emergency bulkhead.

Captain Kelley went to quarantine unit 3, which contained Dr. Klox and 6 other crew members whom Scumuk had been for some reason or other unable to control. The captain placed his bloody palm on the control panel. The panel lit up immediately, enabling Kelley to release his crew.

During all of this time there were two other crew members, both trill, in the medical bay. They were still under Scumuk's influence, but they had not been told what to do in case their captain got out of quarantine.

.

So they did nothing.

.

Kelley ushered the two still entranced trill doctors into quarantine unit 4 and locked them in. He turned to Crewman Mata. "Are you with me?"

"Yes, Captain. I'm free now."

Kelley turned toward his assistant medical director, now his highest ranking surviving officer other than the director of engineering - a trill who was firmly under Scumuk's control. "Dr. Klox, we're re-taking the Atul Goel. What do we need to do that?"

Klox walked over to the medical replicator. "I need this to work. And at least two hours to replicate 60 cubic centimeters of quadropseudoprozadiazomine. Adjusted to 4 different species requirements."

"Five," said Crewman Mata.

Dr. Klox looked at her.

"I'm part orion," she said, very quietly.

Captain Kelley said, "I know. And the last, best hope for this ship, as it turned out." He placed his bloody palm on the medical replicator, activating it, then turned toward the other 7 crew members in the medical bay. "You will keep Crewman Mata's secret as tightly as Dr. Varr and I have for the past two months since she came on board. I don't want to hear any teasing about the crewman's sexual prowess or seductiveness. She's already had a lifetime of that."

.  
A***A  
.

Lt. Commander Mlady removed her claw from the base of Lt. Dolphin's neck where it met his shoulder. Dolphin laid his head on his forward, exposing the wound to her and said, "Go ahead, just, please, don't bite me."

Mlady put her mouth to the wound.

"Dr. Kim," Dolphin called to the tactical medical hologram. He shuddered as he felt Mlady's tongue entering the deep hole her claw had left in his neck. It felt weird, but it also soothed the pain.

The tactical medical hologram appeared in the cramped and now crowded tactical bridge. "When Mlady's finished, would you please patch up the hole in my neck?"

After a few minutes, Mlady leaned back into her chair, which was situated between and immediately behind the pilot and navigation stations. Mlady licked blood off her claw as Dr. Kim used a dermal regenerator to heal the deep wound her claw had left in Kenny Dolphin's neck. Once the wound was healed, Dr. Kim vanished. Mlady leaned forward and quietly whispered into Dolphin's ear: "You should increase your protein intake for the next few days."

During this entire time, Eli Strahl had been leaning forward and staring intently at the navigation console. "No response to our hails," he reported. "I am reading several life forms, but the ship is dark. All systems appear to be off except for basic life support."

"Fine," Mlady responded. "I'm removing their communications array. If they want to talk to us, they can use a communicator. I don't want them sending any bogus distress signals."

.

8.7


	9. Ep 8x8: Going Viral

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 8: Going Viral

8.8  
Going Viral

"…Once again, I want to thank my guest, T'Linit, of the Vulcan Naturalborn Coalition," Governor Ivonovic intoned. He turned toward the middle-aged vulcan female sitting across from him in a simple, but elegant and comfortable looking overstuffed brown armchair. Aside from the governor and his guest seated in their armchairs and a small table in between that held two glasses of water, the set was an unrelieved black – floor, ceiling and backdrop.

"T'Linit, thank you again for reminding our listeners that the naturalborn movement is not a humans-only club, but is nearly universal among all the member species in the Federation who are concerned with this generation of genetically modified masters that are being bred for us."

"As a mother, my concern is for my children and for the future of my people, Governor," T'Linit responded in an even, smooth voice. "Unless we return to our foundations, there is no future for vulcans. And the future for your people is also unclear. This has been a good and much needed conversation, Governor. Thank you for inviting me to participate in it."

"Again, this is Colony of New Hope Planetary Governor Emory Ivonovic, bringing you Subspace Radio Ivonovic, The Voice of the Naturalborn, from an undisclosed location. This program is your voice. If you have any requests for guests that might appear on this, your program, please reach out by subspace radio to the Colony of New Hope. Although I am not there, messages sent to New Hope Colony will find me. You will hear my voice again. You will see my face again. The naturalborn will not be silenced."

.  
A***A  
.

Dr. Napoleon Boles raced outside with the tricorder the Hunter had sent him. He swept up the new phaser rifle the Hunter had sent as he opened the shelter door. With a vigorous under-handed pitch, he sent the tricorder spinning high into the sky, then brought the phaser rifle up, set on full power, aimed and hit the airborne tricorder squarely, disintegrating it entirely. He could only hope he had done this soon enough and that the apparent total disintegration of the tricorder would be sufficient.

He ducked back into his shelter long enough to grab his backpack and canteen. He had a four-hour trek ahead of him. He pulled the communicator off his uniform and deactivated it. He wasn't certain about the communicator, but he wasn't taking any chances.

.

"Dr. Boles just destroyed his tricorder and turned his communicator off." Ensign Tolon Reeves was working back in the forensic center, where he had worked for two years before being promoted and moved into ground operations. The difference was that in addition to Dr. Sif, whom he had missed a bit, his tactical squad was with him.

"What is he doing now?" Dr. Tali Shae asked.

"He appears to be out for a brisk hike," Tolon responded.

"Our new Mr. Blue is just one mystery after another, isn't he?" Tali mused. "Okay, keep an eye on him. I think he was taking readings inside the research station. Let's hold up on taking any further readings inside the research stations for now, just as a precaution."

.

8.8


	10. Ep 8X9: Crew of the Atul Goel

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 9: Crew of the Atul Goel

8.9  
Crew of the Atul Goel

Lt. Tauk and Commander David Pepper were in the captain's office. To the right of the captain's desk, a holographic collage of 50 faces hovered.

"17 bolian crew members. All dead," Tauk said. 17 blue faces faded out of the collage. "One presumed half-bolian, half-human crew member – on vacation and now stranded on Paleonus V." Dr. Boles face, a far deeper blue than his fellow bolians, faded out of the collage.

Tauk coughed, took a drink and continued, "Captain John Kelley, Assistant Security Director Nancy Strange, Chief Security Specialist Wang Chu, Security Specialist Johnny Dunn – all human; all in quarantine." Four faces were moved out of the collage to a separate area and were displayed behind bars.

"Assistant Engineering Director Maerk, vulcan, Assistant Medical Director Mettus Klox, Dr. Vesna Klox, Dr. Indaura Strek – all denobulan – also in quarantine." These faces were also moved behind bars with their human crewmates.

"Notice anything about the remainder?" Tauk asked.

.

Pep let out a low whistle. "Lots of trills."

.

Tauk nodded. "Only three humans left. All the remaining crew members, all 21 of them – trills."

Justice Minerva Irons asked, "Any joined trills? Any symbionts?"

Tauk shook his head slowly.

Irons took a deep breath, sighed. "Un-joined trills. Extremely susceptible to telepathic control." She caught Tauk's grim expression. "That isn't all, is it?"

"The majority of those trills – and the majority of the bolians – 17 trills and 11 bolians – all were transferred to the Atul Goel during the past year. The 3 humans not in quarantine – raw recruits – fresh out of basic training."

"The moment that humans are uniquely susceptible to telepathic domination," Irons concluded.

Pep turned toward the justice. "You may want to consider revising your ruling against Admiral Scumuk. This sorry mess has been at least a year in the planning, if not longer. How did Captain Kelley not notice his crew was being replaced almost exclusively with trills and bolians?"

Irons made a harrumphing noise, then said, "I'm sure he was aware, David. But he had no reason to think anything ill of it. His executive officer was bolian. Birds of a feather. And trills are exceptionally quick learners – it takes less than a quarter of the time to train a trill in protocol and routine tasks than it takes for pretty much anyone else. They make good teachers for the same reason. Captain Kelley was probably delighted to have such a concentration of them. Especially on a medical ship, where routine and attention to procedure is vital."

Lt. Tauk cleared his throat, took a drink, and then addressed his captain. "Your honor, why the bolians? I didn't think they had any enemies."

"The Bolian Web," Irons replied. "The Bolian Web is one of the newest member governments within the Federation, but in less than 100 years they have become vital to nearly every sector of Federation society. Bolian freighters carry almost a quarter of Federation commerce. Bolian contributions to medical technology rival the denobulans. And, not insignificantly, bolians occupy and patrol a strategic portion of Federation space between Earth and Vulcan that was once patrolled largely by the Vulcan Space Command. Their homeworld is almost in the exact center of Federation space. A sudden depopulation within the Bolian Web would be a devastating blow to the integrity of the Federation."

.

8.9


	11. Ep 8x10: Carved In Stone

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 10: Carved in Stone

8.10  
Carved in Stone

Dr. Napoleon Boles had arrived at his destination – a river bank at the foot of a large, sheer cliff of exposed granite. He had both phaser rifles with him. Both were now fully charged. With a few short, broad-beam blasts on low power, he frightened the wildlife away, causing a stampede of some of the largest herbivores on the planet. The thunderous cacophony of their panicked, if ponderous exit was enough to frighten away everything else, from the giant smilmonouths to Paleonus V's pesky version of stinging, dangerously large, furry insects.

The stampede alone would have been sufficient to draw the attention of the Hunter's crew even if they had not already been watching Dr. Boles' every move.

Boles set down his backpack, slung one phaser rifle to his back and got to work with the other one – swiftly and confidently using a beam about the width of his thumb to carve a large, pictographic message into the cliff face nearly 200 meters from where he was standing on the other side of the river – in characters easily large enough to be seen from orbit.

He could only hope that his cryptic message would be understood. There just wasn't enough clear cliff face to spell it out in English.

.

"What is he writing?" asked Dr. Tali Shae. She had gathered the senior staff and Lt. T'Lon, along with her investigators in the executive conference room. They were watching a holographic representation of the cliff face as Dr. Boles was carving his message into it with his phaser rifle. He handled the weapon with the swift, sure movements of an artist using a paint brush.

T'Lon picked out the first character. "That is a bolian standard symbol for communication. The third symbol on the top line is the vulcan standard symbol for computer."

Dr. Carrera followed up. "That's definitely the mathematical notation for 'does not equal'."

"Communication does not equal computer?" Pep asked.

"Computer again," said T'Lon.

Tali Shae caught the symbol at the beginning of the second row in the exposed granite. "Star Fleet Medical – symbol for virus."

Dr. Carrera summarized. "Virus equals computer?"

Investigator Shran marveled at Dr. Boles' artistic ability. "He's quite talented with that phaser. I can hit anything I see, but I could never draw like that. He's really good at it."

"Bolian symbol for communication…" said T'Lon as the third row emerged from the contact between Boles' phaser beam and the cliff face.

"Inside the Star Fleet Medical standard notation for Quarantine." Tali Shae continued. "Quarantine communications?"

"He did turn his communicator off," said Tauk.

"That," said Investigator Buttans Ngumbo as Boles was completing the fourth row of characters, "That is a really clear picture of his communicator. But what's the next symbol?"

"Chinese," said Justice Minerva Irons. "Symbol for understanding. There are several. Dr. Boles has selected a two-symbol group that means specifically to comprehend, see, grasp or follow."

"Four dots?" asked Tauk as Dr. Boles completed his message with very little clear cliff face to spare.

"Four beeps," Shran corrected. "He's saying if we understand this message, we should beep his communicator four times. But I don't understand the rest of the message."

"Evidently he's done," said Lt. Tauk, suppressing a cough. "He seems to be heading back to his shelter."

"Okay," said Dr. Tali Shae. "Let's take it in the order that he carved it: "1. Communication does not equal computer. 2. Virus equals computer. 3. Quarantine communication. 4. Beep if you understand."

Lt. T'Lon spoke up. "We need to consider what he did before setting out to send us this message."

"He vaporized his tricorder and turned off his communicator," Tali Shae responded.

"The system shows his communicator as active now," said Dr. Carrera.

"Could he have destroyed his tricorder because he thought it was infected with a computer virus?" asked Tauk. "He might have turned off his communicator because he thought it might be infected as well."

"Hunter," called Dr. Carrera.

.

The elderly appearing ship's avatar appeared in the conference room.

.

"Deep virus scan all of your systems. We might have picked up a bug from the Atul Goel's transmission or since then from our scans of Paleonus V."

"I am detecting four potentially infected sectors. I am isolating them now." Hunter replied.

"Infection point of origin?" Carrera asked.

"Transmission from the Atul Goel, transmission from the quarantine buoys, scans of research station 11 from Dr. Bole's tricorder, scans of the other research stations using the primary sensor array," Hunter listed.

"Can you counteract?" asked Carrera.

"I already have and I have created physically isolated units that will preserve the virus. It is slow acting but is designed to replicate itself using either the replicator or the transporter once the program has successfully deployed."

"David, deactivate those buoys!" said Justice Irons. "Sarekson," she continued as Pep bustled out of the room, "What will it take to jam out the transmission the buoys have sent out so far?"

"They're just transmitting locally using frequency modulation, so the signal is only moving at the speed of light," Carrera replied. "We don't use subspace radio for quarantines – that would create a hazard to navigation. To jam out the entire signal pattern from the buoys, we would have to travel in a globular pattern, working from the outside of the radio transmission bubble inward toward the planet and emit a powerful jamming signal in those frequencies. They've been transmitting about 6-hours… We would have to build and deposit jamming buoys in each location – each one would have to emit a jamming signal for 6-hours as the transmission passes through its location. I estimate a total time of 127 hours for sufficient coverage. I can speed it up a little by using the interceptors and the wagon to help distribute the buoys."

"Begin!" said Irons.

Carrera got up and left the room. As he exited, he started gathering resources: "Lieutenant Gamor, Sun and Moon, please meet me in the engineering conference room immediately. Gaia – please bring your entire department…"

Tali Shae looked at Justice Irons. "Should we beep Dr. Boles and let him know we understood his message?"

"Not until we understand all of it," Irons responded. "I need a complete analysis of the virus that Hunter has isolated. I need to know exactly what those buoys have been transmitting. Lieutenant Tauk - I need you to contact the tactical unit and inform them of the situation. We're infected - they're infected. Have them isolate and remove the infected sectors immediately. They also need to prevent the Atul Goel from sending any transmissions. And get both of your teams on Dr. Boles' message. I want a thorough analysis and recommendations for action in one hour." Irons got up and left the room.

.

8.10


	12. Ep 8x11: Computer Virus

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web

Scene 11: Computer Virus

8.11

Computer Virus

"This is the ugliest nightmare of a bug that I never even dreamed of…" Dr. Tali Shae, Lt. Tauk and Lt. T'Lon were in Justice Irons' office, along with Pep. Tali Shae looked horrified. Tauk looked horrified. Pep looked horrified. T'Lon's eyebrow was twitching - almost a nervous breakdown for a vulcan.

.

"At first we thought we were dealing with two viruses," Tali Shae continued. "A computer virus that hijacks the nearest transporter, replicator - and a long list of similar tools to build the biological virus, which in turn kills bolians, makes andorians extremely ill and has as yet unknown effects on other species."

Justice Minerva Irons was getting used to things going from bad to worse at this point. "So what are we actually dealing with, Tali? Multiple viruses?"

"One. One biological virus that contains the computer virus, which contains instructions for building the biological virus. Scan a victim with any medical scanner and the scanner is infected."

Irons had realized long ago that her best friend's emotional state could be gauged by the movement of her antennae. At the moment she was so upset her antennae were almost bumping into each other in agitation.

"Do you have any idea how many tools can be used to replicate this virus?" Tali Shae continued. "Not just food replicators and transporters… Medical tricorders, hypo-spray units, forensic diagnostic systems, surgical diagnostic systems, waste-recycling processors, air recycling processors, water recycling processors, shield emitters, holographic emitters, tractor beam emitters, at least a dozen systems in the warp core. Even the artificial gravity generators could be reprogrammed to replicate this virus."

Lt. Tauk cleared his throat. "My teams are developing a comprehensive list of such tools, and every time we think we thought of everything this virus could use to replicate itself, we end up coming up with more systems that could do it."

"This thing is the product of a sick mind," Tali Shae followed. "You remember the legends of the progenitors?"

"The ancient race that seeded our galaxy with their DNA in hopes that there would be many races like them - the parent race for all humanoids," Justice Irons responded. "Heard of them. They left tantalizing fragments of their civilization all over the galaxy - not to mention all of us. In their own words we are a monument 'not to their greatness, but to their existence.' They vanished apparently overnight."

"We have always thought they were wiped out by a weaponized disease that could be spread electronically" Tali said. "This bug would be a contender. It is designed to be a civilization ender. Whoever cooked up this bug doesn't care whether anyone survives it. Let it get out in the wild and it will mutate. It is the single most dangerous thing I think we have ever encountered."

.

8.11


	13. Ep 8x12: Jamming Buoys

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 12: Jamming Buoys

8.12  
Jamming Buoys

Dr. Sarekson Carrera was in the captain's chair, overseeing the construction of jamming buoys to jam the signal from the quarantine buoys. Those quarantine buoys had broadcast for just under six hours. At the moment Pep had shut the buoys down, their radio broadcast had reached a sphere with a radius of about six light-hours. But that sphere kept growing at the speed of light.

There was no way the Hunter could travel far enough fast enough and stay long enough in each location to prevent that signal from getting through and eventually contaminating shipping lanes. Sarekson had to do a tremendous amount of math in his head and the answer was, counting the time it would take to reconfigure the transporters to mine materials, reconfigure the replicators to build jamming buoys and use the Hunter, the wagon and the two interceptors to deploy them, they would have to manufacture and deploy 9,287 jamming buoys.

This process started near Paleonus III, one of three rocky, nearly molten planets close to the Paleonus star. The planet had no atmosphere, but it was the most accessible repository of the minerals Dr. Carrera needed to manufacture the buoys.

.

It had taken nearly 30 hours to manufacture nearly 3,000 buoys, complete with batteries capable of at least 6 hours of power for the radio jamming signal and position stabilizers. Carrera chose to use the transporters to construct the buoys in space on the dark side of Paleonus III. The Hunter had to remain on location, replicating thousands of jamming buoys in space using materials from the planet below. The wagon could carry five and drag an additional five using its tractor beam. The interceptors could each drag four buoys with their tractor beams.

Ensign Sun Ho Hui was overseeing deployment of the buoys from the wagon, jumping out to the edge of the radio broadcast bubble, deploying 18 buoys at a time. Each leap required the three small vessels to jump further from the Paleonus star system and the 18 buoys they could carry as a group covered a smaller portion of the surface of the sphere as the bubble of radio transmission continued to expand outward at the speed of light.

Midshipman Tammy Brazil in transporter room 1 and Transporter Engineer K'rok in transporter room 2 were working non-stop to pull minerals out of the rocky surface of Paleonus III and deposit them in near orbit. Lt. Moon Sun Salek was using the cargo bay transporter tied in to the replicator system to transform these raw materials into very simple jamming buoys.

.

Dr. Carrera was monitoring all of these processes from the bridge of the Hunter. Ensign Tolon Reeves spoke up from the tactical station, directly behind the captain's chair. "Two ships coming in at high warp. Dr. Carrera - they're big!"

"Captain to the bridge!" Carrera said, standing up. At the moment he called for her, Justice Irons stepped onto the bridge, followed by Pep, Tauk, T'Lon and Dr. Tali Shae.

Irons strode over and sat in the captain's chair. "On screen!"

Ensign Tolon had already focused the viewer on the two ships. He increased the resolution in response to Irons' order. Dr. Carrera walked to the back of the bridge and stood next to Tolon Reeves.

Two ships, one enormous and rather ungainly looking, the other about four times the size of the Hunter, sleek and rather intimidating looking, came out of warp about 1,500 meters off the Hunter's bow. The Hunter could fit several dozen times into the larger ship, which was about 3-4 times the size of a Galaxy Class starship.

"We've got a signal," said Ensign Tolon.

"Put them through, Ensign," said Irons.

A bolian female in an unfamiliar uniform appeared on the screen. "Justice Minerva Irons, this is Commissioner Rianila Qotor representing the B.W.S.V. Vyvya and Malinia."

"Commissioner Qotor, this is the U.S.S. Hunter, Justice Minerva Irons commanding. I take it you received my message and have hardened your systems against the virus carried by the quarantine buoy transmission?"

"We kept our shields up when entering the Paleonus system and have been monitoring our computers for any potential infection," the bolian commissioner responded.

"Commissioner, your early arrival is greatly appreciated. I would like to introduce you to our Director of Engineering, Dr. Sarekson Carrera." Justice Irons gestured toward Carrera who was standing behind her. Carrera raised his hand and waved.

"How many warp capable support craft are you carrying?" Irons asked.

Commissioner Qotor answered, "115."

"If you can coordinate with Dr. Carrera for your support craft to help position the jamming buoys that we are constructing, it would greatly improve our strategic position here and possibly help prevent any contaminated signal from escaping," Irons said.

.

8.12


	14. Ep 8x13: Infected Units

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 13: Infected Units

8.13  
Infected Units

Retaking the Atul Goel was a step-by-step process. Once the recently freed staff had been inoculated against telepathic domination, along with the captain, Dr. Mettus Klox injected the two trill doctors in quarantine with quadropseudoprozadiazomine, a dangerously powerful neural stimulant and the only drug known to both break and block the effects of a vulcan mind-meld. Only a small amount was needed for inoculating crew who had not been subjected to the admiral's mind-meld. This dramatically reduced the unpleasant and quite debilitating secondary effects of the drug. The two trill doctors who had been telepathically dominated needed a full dose, which was far less pleasant.

It took only a minute for the drug's primary impact to take effect. Both doctors were immediately freed from the effects of Fleet Admiral Scumuk's mind meld. They then braced themselves for the secondary effects - between 10-30 hours under the influence of a powerful hallucinogen.

The doctors voluntarily re-entered quarantine.

Dr. Klox handed a hypo-syringe to Captain Kelley. "1.5 cc for trills, 1 cc for humans." He continued handing hypo-syringes to the other crew members.

"Phasers on heavy stun." Kelley was distributing hand phasers. There were a total of 10 phasers stored in the medical bay. He kept two for himself. "Avoid Admiral Scumuk if you can. If you can't avoid him, keep your phaser on him on heavy stun for at least four seconds to make sure he's unconscious."

"He is an old man. That might kill him," Mata objected.

"He might kill you," Dr. Klox countered. "He is an old vulcan and he's still three or four times stronger than you are and resistant to the phaser's stun effect. Four seconds."

.  
A***A  
.

Onboard the tactical unit, things had gotten a bit weird. Nearly half the computer system had become contaminated. Lt. Kenny Dolphin and Lt. Commander Mlady had to rip the contaminated circuits out, piece by piece, while Navigator Eli Strahl maintained and monitored the functioning systems to make sure the infection did not spread. Infected systems included the Tactical Medical Hologram, the holographic emitters, the transporter system, and several components within the impulse drive and the deflector arrays. While the warp drive was intact, with the deflector screen disabled, the tactical unit was dead in space for all practical purposes. Without navigational screens, the unit would be shredded by space dust and trace gasses within seconds of traveling at warp.

Dolphin and Mlady crawled about inside the bridge, then into the maintenance hatchway behind the bridge, then from there into smaller and smaller areas, removing contaminated components by hand. Several areas were too tight for Dolphin to get into. Mlady's diminutive size became vital to removing contaminated components in those areas. They met up the torpedo tube, where they deposited the contaminated components and used atmospheric pressure to eject the various infected circuitry out of the rear torpedo tube.

This primary weaponry area below the bridge was not heated and was only pressurized on those rare occasions crew were in this area. Mlady had slowed to the point she was barely moving and Kenny Dolphin had to lift and pass her over his body into the hatch leading up to the primary maintenance crawlway behind the bridge. This process was considerably hampered by her voluminous bundles of thick, black, wavy hair. By the time he crawled up into the hatch alongside her, she was almost comatose.

This hatchway also led up into the crawlways for the engines, making it the warmest area in the tactical unit. With some difficulty, Dolphin bundled Mlady's hair and lifted her on top of him as he crawled backward to lie on the floor of the crawlway, bringing her to lie on top of him. His body had generated a lot of heat crawling around. Mlady was so cold he could almost feel his body using hers as a heat sink.

"I really want to bite you now," Mlady said. Her words were slow and slurred.

"Please don't. I don't want to be modified." Dolphin replied.

Mlady stretched against Dolphin, laying her neck across his chest, flattening herself tightly against him, turning slightly to absorb as much of his warmth as possible. "It's always so cold. Living among you humans. You keep your environments so cold."

Dolphin wrapped his arms around Mlady. For someone so physically powerful and with such outsized personal presence, she was surprisingly tiny. Her bushels of dark, wavy hair made her appear almost twice as big as she actually was. Her body was tiny, but extremely muscular – even more muscular than T'Lon. It was like holding a wild animal - dense muscle and bone - restless energy.

"You miss holding her, don't you?" Mlady's voice was stronger now. She sounded more conscious, more coherent.

"Yes." Dolphin knew Mlady was talking about T'Lon. There was no point lying or obfuscating in the company of so many telepathically endowed individuals. Eli Strahl was only a few feet away, on the bridge, probably doing his best to not overhear his shipmates' thoughts.

"Humans and andorians are the warmest," Mlady mused, sounding sleepy again. "Your body temperature is so much warmer than vulcans, denobulans, klingons, even bajorans. It's cold on that bridge. Mr. Strahl doesn't miss us. We both make him uncomfortable." Her voice was even slower now. "You enjoy warming me."

"Yes," Dolphin admitted.

"You enjoyed feeding me."

"Yes." Dolphin suppressed a shudder. He wasn't comfortable with that fact. But there was no denying it.

Mlady's breathing became deeper, more regular, accompanied by an odd, deep vibration that seemed to permeate her neck and torso, producing a slight rumbling sound not unlike a cat's purr, but much deeper – a powerful vibration. The sound had a profoundly soothing effect on Dolphin.

.

8.13


	15. Ep 8x14: Finishing the Job

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 14: Finishing the Job

8.14  
Finishing the Job

Commissioner Rianila Qotor responded to Justice Minerva Irons' request by ending transmission and immediately launching 110 shuttlecraft from the Vyvya and 5 interceptors from the Malinia - or that's how it first appeared. The shuttles and interceptors were based on Star Fleet design, but both were significantly larger than their Star Fleet counterparts. The interceptors were clearly more heavily armed and armored and were capable of independent warp travel, not just restricted to warp jumps like the Hunter's interceptors. The shuttles were neither armed nor armored - they were just big – nearly twice the size of a standard Star Fleet shuttlecraft.

The bolian shuttles quickly picked up all of the few thousand jamming buoys the Hunter had manufactured and immediately set about distributing them. The Vyvya then joined in manufacturing the buoys. It had taken the Hunter almost 30 hours to manufacture about 3,000 buoys. The mammoth Vyvya manufactured the balance needed - just over 4,500, within 15 minutes.

Commander David Pepper and Lt. Sarekson Carrera watched in awe, along with others on the Hunter's bridge as the two bolian ships and their fleet of support vessels made short work of the task the Hunter had spent nearly 30 hours to get far less than halfway done.

.

"B.W.S.V.? I've never heard that designation. I had no idea the bolians had such advanced ships," said Flight Specialist Dih Terri, currently at the pilot's station on the Hunter's bridge. "That Vyvya is nearly as big as a Borg Cube."

"Bolian Web Service Vessel," Dr. Carrera responded. "Many of the Federation member governments maintain their own fleets in addition to their participation in Star Fleet. Bolian ships are nowhere near as fast or advanced as Star Fleet vessels. But they make up for it in size and versatility. The Vyvya is the smallest and newest of four so-called commission vessels. The biggest one is about 5 times as big as a Borg Cube and can carry over 8 million people. They made these things for planetary evacuation missions, but the Vyvya is special. In fact, it's just what we need."

"Why?" asked Dih. "Aside from carrying like about a thousand shuttlecraft, that is."

"Star Fleet helped build the Vyvya. It's the fastest of the bolian commission ships," Carrera answered. "It can get up to warp 6, but more importantly, it carries four level-8 quarantine bio-labs."

"I assume the Malinia can go faster?" Dih mused.

"Bolian warships aren't designed to run away," Pep responded. "They're for planetary defense. Made to hold the line until Star Fleet shows up. The Malinia may be slow, but it's essentially a spaceborne fortress. Bolians are one of the newest members of the Federation. Everyone has noticed their courtesy and skill at small talk. But before they joined the Federation, they turned back a number of invasions, including a serious incursion by the Nausican Collective."

"Courtesy is their first line of defense," Dr. Carrera observed. "Bolians are famous for talking their way out of tough spots. They send their commission ships wherever they are needed, but not their war ships. They rely on Star Fleet escorts outside of bolian space. Most people are entirely unaware the bolians even have combat vessels. It's not something they advertise."

.

8.14


	16. Ep 8x15: Hot Spots

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 15: Hot Spots

8.15  
Hot Spots

While her crew were watching and coordinating with their bolian counterparts to contain the contaminated quarantine radio message, Justice Minerva Irons was in her office along with Dr. Tali Shae, continuing her conversation with Commissioner Rianila Qotor. Commissioner Qotor had brought her medical director, Dr. Gyna Vadero, into the conversation as well.

"There are two contaminated hot spots at this point," Tali said. "We are reasonably certain that the research stations on Paleonus V are all contaminated. We were able to detect several dead bolians inside each station."

Dr. Vadero responded. "For now, we will consecrate those stations as graves. We cannot retrieve those bodies. Paleonus V will have to remain under quarantine."

"The other hot spot is the U.S.S. Atul Goel, which we currently believe is the point of origin," said Justice Irons.

Dr. Vadero looked surprised. "The flagship of Star Fleet Medical?" she asked.

"Worse than that," Irons intoned. "We believe this supervirus was designed and developed by Fleet Admiral Scumuk. It appears he is under alien control."

"That is exceptionally bad news, your honor," said Commissioner Qotor.

Dr. Tali Shae smiled slightly at the commissioner's turn of phrase, similar to the way Justice Irons used the language.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Irons said. "This boat comes in two parts, the platform, which you see now, and the tactical unit, which can support three crew members. That unit, with my second officer on board, stopped the Atul Goel, but its computer systems were also infected. I do not know yet whether its crew have been infected – we have not had contact since advising them to physically remove any corrupted computer components."

"We also have an officer stranded on Paleonus V," Dr. Tali Shae added. "A Dr. Napoleon Boles, large animal life scientist."

.

"I am aware of Napoleon Boles," said Commissioner Qotor. "Bolian father, human mother. That young man has a very troubled past. What is his current situation?"

.

"We have provided him a hardened shelter and some advanced equipment," Justice Irons responded. "But I am concerned the equipment we provided might have become contaminated. He vaporized the tricorder we sent him and he was the one who alerted us that the virus infects computers as well as animals."

"I will arrange for him to be resupplied in another location," said Commissioner Qotor. "We will advise him to destroy the contents of his current shelter."

"That will be greatly appreciated, Commissioner. I need to take the Hunter to reconnect with our tactical unit, which is currently containing the Atul Goel. We could use your help there as well."

"Go ahead, Justice Irons. We will follow once we have replaced the quarantine buoys around Paleonus V and supplied your Dr. Boles. I intend to destroy the contaminated Star Fleet buoys except for one. We will isolate that in one of our level-8 quarantine labs for study."

"Just remember, that superbug was specially designed to kill bolians," Dr. Tali Shae warned.

"We will leave that laboratory in solar orbit. We will also leave our interceptors and several support vessels in this system to make sure no one violates the quarantine."

"Again, Commissioner, your help is greatly appreciated here," said Justice Irons. "We will look for your arrival at the quarantine site for the Atul Goel. Hunter out."

.

8.15


	17. Ep 8x16: Captain John Kelley

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 16: Captain John Kelley

8.16  
Captain John Kelley

Captain Kelley took Chief Security Specialist Wang Chu and Crewman Tina Mata with him to retake the Atul Goel's computer core. He had provided computer access to each of the seven crewmembers who had not been conditioned by Fleet Admiral Scumuk and to Crewman Mata, who had been able to break free without the use of the powerful neural stimulant quadropseudoprozadiazomine. No one else on board would be able to open any of the doors or emergency bulkheads. Or so he thought…

The critical areas to control were the bridge, medical bay and main engineering (a team of two was assigned to take and hold each of these areas), but more important than any of these was the ship's computer core. The Atul Goel's computer core was one deck below the medical bay, which, with the ship locked down, required passage through three emergency bulkheads on deck 6 to get to the maintenance crawlway that led down to deck 5.

Chief Wang and Captain Kelley had just dropped out of the maintenance crawlway onto deck 5 and Crewman Mata was emerging from the crawlway head first. The emergency bulkhead leading to the port side of deck 5 opened, revealing Fleet Admiral Scumuk crouched on the floor.

.

The elderly vulcan opened fire with his phaser at full power, first at Chief Wang, then at Captain Kelley, vaporizing each of them.

.

Without leaving the maintenance crawlway, Mata trained her phaser on the elderly vulcan and maintained a solid beam at the heavy stun setting. She carefully counted to four seconds, released the beam and watched. Scumuk dropped his phaser and collapsed, apparently unconscious.

Mata remained inside the maintenance hatch, observing. The admiral had dropped his phaser. A quick blast from her phaser sent the admiral's weapon skipping across the floor and down the hallway beyond. The admiral remained motionless.

.

Mata counted her breaths, keeping her phaser trained on the apparently unconscious vulcan. Her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. She keyed her communicator: "Dr. Klox, Dr. Klox – this is Crewman Tina Mata…"

"This is Mettus Klox, go ahead Crewman…"

"Sir, I am on deck 5. Captain Kelley and Chief Wang have been vaporized. I have the admiral here – I think he's unconscious…"

"Remain in a position of safety, Crewman. We will join you there. Keep your guard up and remember, even if Scumuk is unconscious, there may be someone else nearby. Watch your flank."

.

8.16


	18. Ep 8x17: Rescuing Dr Kim

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 17: Rescuing Dr. Kim

8.17  
Rescuing Dr. Kim

Pep was in the captain's chair as the Hunter linked up with the tactical unit. For more than an hour the tactical unit remained sealed while Kenny Dolphin and Mlady crawled through every section once again to verify that all of the infected sectors had been removed.

.

"We have reviewed the remaining crystals and neural units," Mlady reported from the bridge of the tactical unit. "Scans of myself, Lieutenant Dolphin and Navigator Strahl all are negative. None of the remaining components are infected. All personnel are safe."

"Not all personnel," Dolphin interjected.

"Mr. Dolphin," Tali Shae's voice came in, "Mlady just reported that you, Strahl and she are in the clear, are you telling me one of you is infected?"

"Affirmative, Doctor," said Dolphin. "Doctor Kim is infected. And she's out there floating about a half-kilometer to our stern."

"We cannot beam the TMH unit back aboard. It could infect the transporter system," Dr. Shae said. "Hunter has the original schematics, we can reconstruct the Tactical Medical Hologram."

"And lose everything she has learned since being activated," Dolphin responded. "Your honor, let me take an interceptor. I'll get out there, pop the bubble, go EVA and bring her back by hand."

"You have quite the thing for Dr. Kim, don't you," Tali Shae teased.

"She watched me while I slept. She patched me up. We don't leave our people behind," Dolphin replied. "Take your pick."

"All of the above," Justice Irons responded. "Okay hero, choose your bird and go rescue your damsel. Irons out."

Tali Shae was sitting in Justice Irons' office. "Pompous ass," she muttered quietly, earning a chuckle from Justice Irons.

"Evidently you forgot that Dolphin's Ph.D. is in ethics, Tali," Irons said.

"That's what makes him a pompous ass," Tali said, her antennae twitching.

Justice Minerva Irons stood up and straightened her neck. "Well, let's go greet our heroes." She gestured toward the door leading from her office onto the Hunter's bridge and followed her best friend.

.  
A***A  
.

Dr. Boles set out once again from the shelter the Hunter's crew had created for him, only after removing the control units from the workstation and decontamination chamber and turning these to slag with a few quick high-power blasts from his phaser. He vaporized his old communicator, keeping the new communicator provided by the Vyvya. At his request, the Vyvya had created the new shelter for him near a waterfall that was about a full day's journey from his current location. It would be a good place for long term survival in case he never got off this planet.

With two nearly fully charged phaser rifles and an extra, fully charged hand phaser in his belt, Boles remained wary and watchful, but was not particularly worried about the many predators between him and his new shelter.

His new benefactors were far less talkative than the crew of the Hunter. Boles had left a bit of a reputation behind him on his homeworld. But that was just fine for him. A month of solitude with no conversation would drive pretty much any bolian straight out of his mind. Napoleon Boles was, however, a bit of a loner. This enjoyment of solitude was not too unusual among humans, but generally considered a sign of serious mental illness among bolians.

.

8.17


	19. Ep 8x18: The Case for Quarantine

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 18: The Case for Quarantine

8.18  
The Case for Quarantine

Commander David Pepper stood up as Dr. Tali Shae and Justice Irons stepped onto the bridge. At the same time, Lt. Commander Mlady emerged from the hatch that led to the tactical unit.

Lt. Dolphin was next out of the hatch. As Navigator Eli Strahl followed Dolphin out of the hatch, Dr. Sarekson Carrera stepped onto the bridge from the rear entrance. He was carrying an insulated case.

"Kenny, who is going after Dr. Kim?" Carrera asked.

"I am," Dolphin replied. "Were you listening in?"

"No, but I figured you would assign someone to pick her up. We can't beam the TMH unit aboard," Carrera continued. "It might contaminate the transporter."

Tali Shae rolled her eyes, her antennae mimicking and exaggerating her eye movement.

Irons put her hand on Tali's shoulder and said, very quietly, "Deja vu?"

Carrera handed the insulated case to Dolphin. "Please isolate her in here. Be careful not to touch any part of the TMH unit so your EVA suit is not at risk."

"Got it," Dolphin replied, tucking the case under his left arm. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually. While you're out there, just use a few quick phaser blasts to vaporize the rest of the infected components. Do the same to all the critical systems you pulled off of the Atul Goel. Let's not leave any infected components floating around out there."

Dolphin looked down to his left and raised his right hand. The two men briefly clasped hands, then Dolphin exited the bridge.

.

Justice Irons allowed herself a private smile at this display of camaraderie between her director of flight operations and director of engineering as she sat down in the captain's chair.

"David, please debrief the away team individually," Irons said.

"Eli," Pep said, "You with me. Lieutenant Commander, get some sack time, I'll catch up with you after."

Irons turned toward Dr. Carrera as Mlady, Pep and Eli Strahl exited the bridge. "Lieutenant, I want you to listen in and assess the situation over on the Atul Goel." Irons signaled to Flight Specialist Joey Chin, currently at the tactical station behind her.

"Channel open, your honor," Chin said.

"Atul Goel, this is the U.S.S. Hunter, Justice Minerva Irons commanding, please respond." Irons watched the image of the medical ship on the main viewscreen. The Atul Goel was evidently dead in space. The front of its engine nacelles were exposed to space - only a few remaining traces of its drive plasma drifting nearby. The ship's running lights were off. No lights could be seen in any of the windows.

Joey Chin spoke up. "Your honor, we're receiving a communicator signal. Audio only."

Irons signaled with two fingers and Chin put the signal through.

"Hunter, this is Dr. Mettus Klox. I was working with Captain Kelley and a few others to retake our ship. Fleet Admiral Scumuk has been sedated and is in quarantine. We have treated all the staff against telepathic domination. Unfortunately the cure is debilitating, so there are only 7 of us and we are unable to reactivate the ship's systems."

"Dr. Klox, this is Dr. Tali Shae, Hunter's medical director. What did you use to treat the crew?"

"Dr. Shae, we have 21 trills and two humans enduring the secondary effects of a full dose of quadropseudoprozadiazomine. I have them either in quarantine or under close observation in the mess. We also used it on the admiral, although he is, at the moment, unconscious."

Irons spoke up, "Dr. Klox, I assume since you are reporting that you are currently the ranking officer. What happened to your captain?"

"Captain Kelley was vaporized by Fleet Admiral Scumuk while we were retaking the ship," Klox responded. "Your honor, I am placing the Atul Goel under full quarantine. All crew members are latently infected. We have all recovered, except for our bolian crew members, who are all dead. But the virus is still active and it is an airborne virus."

"Dr. Klox, you need to be aware this virus is also a computer borne virus," Tali Shae interjected.

"Computer borne? How is that possible?"

"The virus carries in its genetic code a computer virus, which, when scanned, infects medical diagnostic equipment. It is designed to take over pretty much any replication hardware, such as a transporter or a hypo-spray unit and use that to generate more physical copies of the virus. At this point it is safe to say that all of the Atul Goel's computer systems and probably every tricorder and every piece of medical equipment you have is also infected."

"Dr. Klox, this is Lieutenant Carrera, Hunter's Director of Engineering. During the attack on your ship, our tactical unit beamed out all of your transporter control circuitry, your shields, drivers for your shuttlecraft - and much more. The mere act of transporting all of that out spread the virus in our attack vessel. We had to remove nearly half of the components from that vessel. At the moment we're vaporizing all of that removed circuitry."

"Then this ship needs to be destroyed," Dr. Klox concluded.

"That would be my recommendation," Dr. Carrera agreed. "We just need to find a way to get all of you off of it first - and then cured. Until then, you will need to remain onboard and the ship in quarantine."

.  
A***A  
.

Lt. Kenny Dolphin was piloting interceptor 2. He had evacuated the atmosphere in the cockpit. Dolphin was wearing an EVA suit. The computer components he and Mlady had ejected from the tactical unit several hours before had spread out over an area of nearly a kilometer. He had matched speeds with the Tactical Medical Hologram unit, a plug-in component about 4" long, 2" wide and less than a quarter-inch thick.

He opened the bubble, exposing the cockpit to space and kicked off very lightly, floating slowly out of the cockpit, a tether trailing behind him. As he caught up with the TMH unit, he brought up the case Dr. Carrera had given him. He opened the case, let the TMH unit drift into it, then closed the case and released it. The case drifted away from him, but it was also connected to the same tether that connected him to the interceptor.

Dolphin brought up a phaser rifle and flipped up the targeting scanner. He used the scanner to individually target each piece of computer that he and Mlady had ejected. With the phaser at full power, set to wide beam and pulse mode, he set about destroying the other infected computer systems. A popup display inside his helmet had a list of these removed components and checked them off as he destroyed them.

He used slight twists and turns of his torso to alter his spin, turning very slowly to be able to continue targeting until he cleared the list. Once the list was cleared, he re-slung the phaser rifle, reached for the tether and pulled himself back into the interceptor, along with the case that contained Dr. Kim.

.

8.18


	20. Ep 8x19: The USS Atul Goel

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 19: The U.S.S. Atul Goel

8.19  
The U.S.S. Atul Goel

.

The arrival of the Vyvya and Malinia nearly twelve hours after the Hunter's arrival at the quarantine site for the Atul Goel brought home to the Hunter's crew how spoiled they had become to traveling at extremely high speeds using recursive warp, also known as the zip drive. The Vyvya and Malinia had been traveling at warp 5, obeying the Federation's speed limit as the emergency had been, for the moment, contained.

The Vyvya disgorged one of its level-8 quarantine labs, which then maneuvered alongside the Atul Goel and docked with the defunct medical ship. Transporting howling, frightened, hallucinating crew members from the Atul Goel by walking them into the quarantine lab was a slow, difficult task for Dr. Klox and his small team. The affected crew members could only be moved one at a time. But the lab was well apportioned enough to afford individual accommodations for each.

30 surviving crew members from Atul Goel. 13 survivors from Paleonus V. And finally, in a straitjacket and fastened firmly to a gurney, Fleet Admiral Scumuk, his head rolling, eyes unfocused, raving incoherently. The only words he said were, "you must go to the library! The library! Go to the library!" endlessly repeated.

.

Justice Minerva Irons was in communication with Dr. Mettus Klox as the Vyvya's quarantine unit undocked and moved away from the now evacuated Atul Goel.

"I am only a second lieutenant, your honor. I'm not certain this is my decision to make."

"Lieutenant Klox, you are the commanding officer of the Atul Goel," Irons replied. "You are the only person who can make this decision."

Dr. Klox sighed. "I never wanted to command a star ship. I only joined Star Fleet because I fell in love and it was going to be the only way for me to stay close to my first wife. Five years ago I was just a simple country doctor. Now both my wives are in Star Fleet - which means I am too. Probably for life."

Klox sighed again, then keyed his communicator. "Atul Goel, this is Lieutenant Klox, commanding. Execute order 86. Keyword - papaya."

Captain Kelley had preemptively authorized self-destruct hours earlier; Dr. Klox's order completed the sequence. The Atul Goel's self-destruct mechanism was designed to dissolve the ship from within rather than causing it to explode and possibly allowing any contaminants to escape. Instead of blowing up, the Atul Goel gradually collapsed into itself in a molten foam of molecular acid. The ship's hull was the last part to dissolve.

.

Justice Minerva Irons and her executive staff watched a holographic representation of the Atul Goel's final moments in the Hunter's executive conference room.

Irons turned to her people. "So, does anyone have any idea what the admiral was talking about? What library?"

.

8.19


	21. Ep 8x20: A Dangerous Assignment

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 8: The Bolian Web  
Scene 20: A Dangerous Assignment

8.20  
A Dangerous Assignment

.

Lt. Kenny Dolphin was disconcerted to find himself summoned not to the captain's office, but to her stateroom. Justice Irons' stateroom was the same size as the executive conference room. It was the only one of the three staterooms on board large enough to have a separate sitting room. The area immediately around her couch and armchair was brightly lit, leaving the rest of her chambers in darkness and giving her rooms the illusion of depth, ambient space. Dolphin sat at one end of a brightly lit, simple, but plush green couch and tried to relax.

The justice sat across from him in a matching armchair. She was a distractingly beautiful woman, made even more distracting because of her penchant for black silk dresses that emphasized her taut, slender figure. Irons was a Star Fleet officer, but Dolphin had never seen her in uniform. She usually wore opaque black stockings with her almost scandalously short dresses, but not tonight. If Helen of Troy had a face that could launch 10,000 ships, Justice Minerva Irons had legs that would cause them all to veer off course and run into each other. Given her regal bearing, she managed to be simultaneously unbearably alluring and completely unattainable.

.

"I want to send you into danger, Lieutenant. Alone. But only if this is a mission that you want to take on. I am not asking you to spy or provide any intelligence. Only to respond honestly to an invitation and while you're there, to speak your mind. I do not think you will be in any danger of bodily harm – more a danger of opening old wounds."

Dolphin didn't respond, simply awaited more information. The light fell brightly on Justice Irons' legs, the light leopard spotting along the sides of her legs that were evidence of recent trill ancestry, her hands folded elegantly in her lap, fingernails and toenails perfectly manicured with a clear lacquer that emphasized her natural colors. Her face was more dimly lit, making her eyes pools of darkness.

It was exceptionally difficult for Dolphin to maintain her gaze and his only way of dealing with that was to call on a reserve of self-control that had gotten him through very rough times during his professorship at Harvard. His last few years there had been hellish as his popularity and popular misconceptions about his writings had brought both more applications for enrollment and more controversy to the Harvard Philosophy Department than that department had ever seen since the founding of the university.

Irons allowed the silence to linger, watching her director of flight operations – evaluating and appreciating his display of resolve and self-control under duress. After two full minutes of silence – that seemed like two hours to Dolphin – Irons smiled slightly, then said, "Hunter, display the message for Dr. Dolphin."

.

Another overstuffed armchair appeared near the other end of the couch – a brown leather chair that did not match the room's décor. Governor Emory Ivonovic was seated in it, wearing a simple but elegantly tailored gray suit – or rather, a holographic representation of the gray-suited governor was seated in a holographic representation of a brown leather armchair.

"Dr. Dolphin, I am certain I do not need to introduce myself. You may be aware that recently I have been interviewing relevant individuals on Subspace Radio Ivonovic. My followers have overwhelmingly asked for me to interview you and there is no one more relevant to the concerns of the naturalborn than you are.

"Very few people know that you joined Star Fleet, but there are some who do and word has made its way to me that you are actually part of the crew that arrested me seven months ago. I want to assure you that I bear you no ill will over that incident. I understand that you joined that crew on the same day that I was arrested.

"I am asking you to come to the Colony of New Hope and meet my representatives in the town of Pilgrim's Landing. There, they will take you offworld to meet me in an undisclosed location for an interview to be broadcast over Subspace Radio Ivonovic. I will broadcast the interview in its entirety, only redacting those parts that you want to keep from being broadcast. You will be treated as an honored guest and safely returned to Pilgrim's Landing, whence you can make your way back to your post.

"This is an invitation only, Dr. Dolphin. I am told you are a private man and that you stopped making public appearances to speak about your books after leaving Harvard University. Under duress as I understand it. If you decide not to come, I will respect your privacy. But a lot of people really want to hear what you think about things – now more than ever. This is an open invitation and it will remain open as long as I am producing Subspace Radio Ivonovic.

"Thank you for your time, Dr. Dolphin. I very much look forward to meeting you in person." The governor's image, along with his armchair, faded.

.

Dolphin sat for a full minute, silently, head rolled back, eyes unfocused, thinking. He took a deep breath and looked over at Justice Irons.

"I'll do it…"

.

8 - The Bolian Web


End file.
